How Maisy Allen is looking to 'make an impact' for resurgent Exeter

Last season could only be categorised as frustrating for Maisy Allen.

The Exeter Chiefs back-row missed large chunks of the season with ankle injuries and watched from the sidelines as her club missed out on the top four in Premiership Women’s Rugby for just the second time in their history.

An offseason of upheaval at Sandy Park saw Susie Appleby exit as head coach and Steve Salvin promoted from assistant coach to top job. To start the 2025/26 season Exeter have picked up 14 points from a possible 20 and sit third in the league table on the first week off en masse rest for all nine clubs.

Allen credits the backroom reshuffle for much of the club’s early success this campaign.

Now with Salvin as the figurehead and Oli Bishop installed as an assistant leading the attack, there is already a feeling that the South West side could be ready to contend again.

Because even though Exeter won eight in a row to start the 2024/25 campaign, when things stopped going their way it became increasingly more difficult to correct course.

“I think it’s good for us to see where we are and not get that false sense of security that we did at the start of last season,” Allen told RugbyPass.

“We came fifth, which you look at the table, that’s not a bad place to be. But we went from winning eight games on the bounce to not finishing top four. That’s really disappointing.

“Steve went to head coach and Oli Bishop came in. He (Bishop) came in and made a real big effort at the start of the season over preseason to get to know everyone. Hours calling people.

“The Cup preparation was really good, and it was a lot about finding our DNA and trying to embed our new style of play. He’s all about creating one v ones and making decisions. Based off that, everything we do is to beat the person in front of you.

“He often goes after tackle percentage or the stats of other teams. And being ruthless with it. He’ll say if a player has 60 per cent tackle success and if you’ve got a one v one, go at them. You can really buy into it. We go with the feel of the game.”

Over the first four weekends Allen has been the undisputed star of all Exeter’s efforts.

To begin this term Chiefs have registered wins against Trailfinders Women and Harlequins, endured a frustrating draw against Loughborough Lightning and lost at the hands of three-time champions Gloucester Hartpury.

The adoption of their new, more attacking style of play has allowed the 164cm all back-row to flourish on the pitch and helped her to consecutive Player of the Match awards.

Already the 23-year-old has scored four tries, carried the ball 43 times and made 86 tackles.

 

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For her newfound confidence on the pitch, Allen largely credits that new attack-focused style of play for helping her thrive on the field and land her among the highest rungs of top performers in the league.

“I am under no illusion that I’m a small player,” Allen said. “My strength isn’t going to be boshing people over. It does suit me.

“He (Bishop) wants to encourage offloads and beating the defender and pre-contact work. That’s all areas of the game I’ve not focussed on growing too much, but now it’s at the forefront of our game, it gives me a real opportunity to focus on those skills.

“Because as a short, small forward, you don’t have the scrum because you’re hanging off the edge of it and you don’t have the lineout, so you have to make an impact somewhere else on the field. That’s what I’ve been trying to do.”

Allen’s stature has been at the centre of numerous conversations recently. Because while the dust has scarcely settled on the success of England’s Red Roses at the 2025 Women’s Rugby World Cup, some minds are already contemplating what the makeup of John Mitchell’s next squad could be.

A continuation of her current form could well land Allen back in an England shirt and the chance to add to her five Test caps.

It was just over two years ago that the 23-year-old helped the Red Roses to WXV 1 success in New Zealand. Her hunger for more exposure at the highest level has never wavered, even after the acceptance that she was out of rotation for this year’s home Women’s Rugby World Cup.

That same hunger took Allen to Hartpury College as a 16-year-old and then to Devon in the pursuit of regular top flight rugby after a handful of fledgling appearances for Gloucester Hartpury.

It is criticism that does not come as a surprise. Even so, when offered the chance to prosper, Allen has shown that she is more than ready to answer any question marks that surround her name.

“I got sent a clip of The Good, The Scaz and The Rugby the other day,” Allen said, “they touched on my performance and said, ‘you’ve got sevens in the Prem like Maisy Allen, with the way the game’s developing, the international game is looking for size in players’ and would I be the sort of player that could be a really good back-rower in the Prem, but never make it to England because of what I give physically.

“When I first heard that, it eats you alive a bit. It’s hard, because it’s not controllable. I’m not going to grow five centimetres or put on 20 kilos. As much as I’d love to.

“Hearing those kinds of things is hard, but also, is it a reality check? Is that what the whole world is seeing, which I’m just a bit blinkered to? Is there room in the game for someone with a different skillset or can you take the risk of them being a bit smaller? All of those things.

 

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“The motivation for England is huge. It’s always trying to understand where you sit with stuff. But figuring out that your entire self-worth is not based around that call-up as well. It’s really difficult, because that’s the ultimate goal and I will keep pushing for that.”

Allen knows it is a long season. Plenty can happen between now and PWR’s finale at the end of June.

So, it’s a return to the grindstone, leaving it all out there every weekend for Exeter, coaching Exeter College in the week and aiming for another shot at a Red Roses jersey when the Guinness Women’s Six Nations rears its head again.

“I want to play consistently,” Allen said. “It’s all well and good having a good start, but it’s easy to drop off.

“I want to play consistently and I want to keep my starting shirt at Chiefs. There’s always massive competition. We have goals of how many points we want to get in each block of games, so I want to help us get towards that goal.

“I would love to get back involved in England stuff. That’s my biggest goal. I’ve got to keep going.”